Posts Tagged ‘Roman Catholicism’

‘Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, ‘and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?’

– Jeremiah 23:29

The doctrine of Purgatory, still an essential aspect of Roman Catholic Christianity as well as Orthodox Judaism, continues to be one of the most common sense Judeo-Christian traditions ever known. For almost two thousand years, the Catholic Church has believed that, just as Hell is meant for the very wicked and evil, Heaven is for the Saints and Martyrs of the world, individuals so righteous and perfect they most certainly merit immediate admittance into Paradise. Likewise, the Church has also taught that, because the vast majority of people are a complex mixture of goodness and evil, most Christian (and Jewish) believers will be going to Purgatory when they die, to a dark ghost world traditionally located below the earth, before they are allowed to move onward to the Kingdom of Heaven. This teaching is in accordance with what the Bible states about the LORD God. It reads as follows:

Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keeps covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments unto a thousand generations.

– Deuteronomy 7:9

The best way to understand Purgatory is to use the analogy of a tree. For just as a tree has numerous branches, some of which reach high up in the sky (Heaven), it also has roots that reach deep down into the earth (Purgatory). Science has shown that both roots and branches are necessary for the life of the tree. The branches (Heaven) are necessary to absorb the life-giving light of the sun, just as the roots (Purgatory) are essential for the collection of water. Without the branches (Heaven) the tree would be unable to sustain itself and grow, while without roots (Purgatory), the wind would be able to blow the tree over, causing it to perish.

The souls of the deceased may be likened to drops of water who fall down like rain (death) which are first taken up by the roots (Purgatory) and then finally make their way upwards to the branches (Heaven) which hang high above the earth. A tree (Afterlife) requires both roots (Purgatory) and branches (Heaven) in order to thrive and prosper.

Considering the fairly recent loss of Christian faith among the intellectual elites of both Europe and North America, it should be obvious that the tree of traditional Christianity has become somewhat sickly and may, in fact, be in real danger of perhaps dying. Indeed, the direst threat to the Christian religion happens to be coming, not from Jews or Muslims, but from sceptics, scoffers, and other apostates who are increasing in numbers and show an ever-increasing hostility to all things religious, especially Christianity. Many of them come from Protestant ancestry whose forefathers rejected Purgatory centuries ago. Is there a connection between the Protestant denial of Purgatory and the growing threats to Christian faith throughout the world? Yes there is, as two different sources clearly indicate:

The transformative event…which made it possible to repudiate tradition…in early-modern English and European culture-an event successfully obliterated from modern memory by early, deliberate acts of forgetting and by the decision of Renaissance politicians and gentry to rewrite history-was the abolition of Purgatory.

– Hamlet and the Ghost of Purgatory: Forgetting the Dead, by Anthony Low, Culture Wars Magazine

Modernism seem[s] inversely parasitic on religion, and Christians object to it because it seems to deny the continuing vitality of their religion. Christianity still thrives, but at the margins, where it has been put by political leaders and cultural arbiters….In this essay I shall argue that crucial, irreversible steps in that direction were taken by the Chantries Act and Royal Injunctions of 1547 and by the Church of England’s declaration, in the Edwardian Prayerbook of 1549, that Purgatory did not exist and consequently that Christians should not mourn or pray for their dead.

– Hamlet and the Ghost of Purgatory: Forgetting the Dead, by Anthony Low, Culture Wars Magazine

Tragically, many forms of Protestant Christianity continues to deny the existence of Purgatory. This is in total disregard for the ancient evidence that the religious doctrine of Purgatory was existent before the advent of Christianity and has its roots in pre-Christian Judaism, Purgatory was not the invention of the Catholic Church, but was merely the continuation of pre-existing Jewish theology. Early Protestants denied this calling it a fiction created by the Catholic Church, a mere ‘Romish Doctrine’. One source notes the following:

The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well of Images as of Relics, and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.

– The Book of Common Prayer, Article 22, Church of England

One should also remember that, at first, Martin Luther freely accepted the doctrine of Purgatory only to change his mind later on, mainly due to political reasons. In addition, the great Christian thinker C.S. Lewis is on record stating that he too believed in Purgatory, even though he was an English Protestant by birth and upbringing. Thus, it seems quite a shame that the vast majority of Protestant Christians have remained in denial in Purgatory for nearly the past 500 years. In truth, it was not meant to be this way as one source noters aptly:

Theo Brown suggests that when the Anglican Church promulgated its repudiation of “The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory” in the first Book of Common Prayer (1549), the bishops did not intend to dispose of Purgatory altogether, but only to correct well-known abuses.

– Hamlet and the Ghost of Purgatory: Forgetting the Dead, by Anthony Low, Culture Wars Magazine

Given the current violence, immorality, and aitheism of today’s society, it seems more than obvious that the Holy Spirit of the modern era is not good at all, but evil, and may well be a vampire, a demon, or some other form of evil spirit in disguise. For the this reason, it is time for the world, and for the English language, to return to the tradition of referring to the Holy Spirit as the Holy Ghost, which emphasize its links to the age-old realm of Purgatory.

After the English Reformers dispensed with Purgatory, however, it was no longer clear to anyone where ghosts came from. Educated people were inclined to doubt their existence, or to think that they were demons in disguise. There was, nevertheless, a great popular outburst of superstitious ghost lore among the common people beginning at mid-century. Theo Brown amply documents this outbreak and associates it with the sudden abolition of Purgatory.

– Hamlet and the Ghost of Purgatory: Forgetting the Dead, by Anthony Low, Culture Wars Magazine

Protestant Today —> Protestant Tomorrow

Heaven or Hell —> Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell

The Holy Spirit —> The Holy Ghost

Throughout the world, belief in ghosts, namely the immaterial spirits of the dead, has been been a standard aspect of numerous different cultures, including those who were not distinctly Judeo-Christian. For the Catholic Church, both before and after the Protestant Reformation, the constant occurence of ghost sightings by the common people signified a sure sign in the continued existence of Purgatory. Put simply, ghosts were believed to come from Purgatory, the Underworld of Christianity. Two different sources state the following:

Before the Reformation, it was common belief among everyone from theologians to peasants that if ghosts appeared to the living they came from Purgatory, not from Heaven or Hell.

– Hamlet and the Ghost of Purgatory: Forgetting the Dead, by Anthony Low, Culture Wars Magazine

Purgatory would become the prison in which ghosts were normally incarcerated, though they might be allowed to escape now and then to briefly haunt those of the living whose zeal in their behalf was insufficient.

– Birth of Purgatory, by Jacques Le Goff

It is to be hoped that the continued Protestant denial in Purgatory will soon come to an end. This act could well cause a resurgence in the Christian faith throughout the world, as more agnostics and other waverers finally accept the common sense Christian doctrine of Purgatory, which means salvation for the many, rather than the few. It’s time for Protestantism to admit they made a grave mistake and are now back to share in the eternity which is the Catholic Christian faith.

The abrupt and, to a large degree, forcible dismantling of Purgatory at mid-century, together with its deep psychic resonances among the common people, its elaborate cultural associations, and its extensive institutional supports, had drastic consequences for society and for the individuals who formed and were formed by society. Before the Reformation, few countries had a deeper investment (financial, cultural, and spiritual) in Purgatory and in commemoration of the dead than England. After the Reformation, few countries turned their backs more abruptly on Purgatory and, with it, on their own dead.

– Hamlet and the Ghost of Purgatory: Forgetting the Dead, by Anthony Low, Culture Wars Magazine

The principles and basic rituals of Masonry embody a naturalistic religion, active participation in which is incompatible with Christian faith and practice.

– Bishops’ Committee on Pastoral Research, 1980s

On March 1 2007, Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, the regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary made a statement that membership of Masonic organizations “remains forbidden” to Catholics, and called on priests who had declared themselves to be Freemasons to be disciplined by their direct superiors.

ALL QUOTES BELOW are from Catholic encyclopedia, Freemasonry

The Reality of Roman Catholic Christianity
No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe.

Freemasonry is not Christian
It is evident, however, that even in this restricted sense of “unsectarian” Christianity, Freemasonry is not a Christian institution, as it acknowledges many pre-Christian models and teachers of “Humanity”. All instructed Masons agree in the objective import of this Masonic principle of “Humanity”, according to which belief in dogmas is a matter of secondary importance, or even prejudicial to the law of universal love and tolerance. Freemasonry, therefore, is opposed not only to Catholicism and Christianity, but also to the whole system of supernatural truth.

The Nepotism and Corruption called Freemasonry
It is a fact attested by experienced men of all countries that, wherever Masonry is influential, non-Masons have to suffer in their interests from the systematical preferment which Masons give each other in appointment to offices and employment. Even Bismarck complained of the effects of such mutual Masonic assistance, which is detrimental alike to civic equality and to public interests. In Masonic books and magazines unlawful and treacherous acts, performed in rendering this mutual assistance, are recommended and praised as a glory of Freemasonry.

The French Revolution was caused by Freemasonry
Thus, Freemasonry in the eighteenth century, as a powerful ally of infidelity, prepared the French Revolution. The alliance of Freemasonry with philosophy was publicly sealed by the solemn initiation of Voltaire, the chief of these philosophers, 7 February, 1778, and his reception of the Masonic garb from the famous materialist Bro. Helvetius. [154] Prior to the Revolution various conspiratory societies arose in connection with Freemasonry from which they borrowed its forms and methods; Illuminati, clubs of Jacobins, etc. A relatively large number of the leading revolutionists were members of Masonic lodges, trained by lodge life for their political career. Even the programme of the Revolution expressed in the “rights of man” was, as shown above, drawn from Masonic principles, and its device: “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” is the very device of Freemasonry.

The anti-Christian New World Order of Freemasonry
The universal social republic, in which, after the overthrow of every kind of spiritual and political tyranny”, of “theocratical” and dynastical powers and class privileges, reigns the greatest possible individual liberty and social and economical equality conformably to French Masonic ideals, the real ultimate aims of this social work.

The following are deemed the principal means: To destroy radically by open persecution of the Church or by a hypocritical fraudulent system of separation between State and Church, all social influence of the Church and of religion, insidiously called “clericalism”, and, as far as possible, to destroy the Church and all true, i.e., superhuman religion, which is more than a vague cult of fatherland and of humanity; (2) To laicize, or secularize, by a likewise hypocritical fraudulent system of “unsectarianism”, all public and private life and, above all, popular instruction and education. “Unsectarianism” as understood by the Grand Orient party is anti-Catholic and even anti-Christian, atheistic, positivistic, or agnostic sectarianism in the garb of unsectarianism. Freedom of thought and conscience of the children has to be developed systematically in the child at school and protected, as far as possible, against all disturbing influences, not only of the Church and priests, but also of the children’s own parents, if necessary, even by means of moral and physical compulsion. The Grand Orient party considers it indispensable and an infallibly sure way to the final establishment of the universal social republic and of the pretended world peace, as they fancy them, and of the glorious era of human solidarity and of unsurpassable human happiness in the reign of liberty and justice.

The Documented Freemasonic Hatred of Christianity
Pike, as the Grand Commander of the Mother Supreme Council of the World (Charleston, South Carolina) lost no opportunity in his letters to excite the anti-clerical spirit of his colleagues. In a long letter of 28 December, 1886, for instance, he conjures the Italian Grand Commander, Timoteo Riboli, 33, the intimate friend of Garibaldi, to do all in his power, in order to unite Italian Masonry against the Vatican. He writes:

The Papacy . . . has been for a thousand years the torturer and curse of Humanity, the most shameless imposture, in its pretence to spiritual power of all ages. With its robes wet and reeking with the blood of half a million of human beings, with the grateful odour of roasted human flesh always in its nostrils, it is exulting over the prospect of renewed dominion. It has sent all over the world its anathemas against Constitutional government and the right of men to freedom of thought and conscience.

Freemasonry’s Naked Assault on Roman Catholic Christianity
Freemasonry goes farther and attacks Catholicism openly. The “Voice” (Chicago), for instance, in an article which begins: “There is nothing in the Catholic religion which is adverse to Masonry”, continues, for the truth is, that masonry embodies that religion in which all men agree. This is as true as that all veritable religion, wherever found, is in substance the same. Neither is it in the power of any man or body of men to make it otherwise. Doctrines and forms of observance conformable to piety, imposed by spiritual overseers, may be as various as the courses of wind; and like the latter may war with each other upon the face of the whole earth, but they are not religion. Bigotry and zeal, the assumptions of the priestcraft, with all its countless inventions to magnify and impress the world . . . are ever the mainsprings of strife, hatred and revenge, which defame and banish religion and its inseparable virtues, and work unspeakable mischief, wherever mankind are found upon the earth. Popery and priestcraft are so allied, that they may be called the same; the truth being, that the former is nothing more nor less than a special case of the latter, being a particular form of a vicious principle, which itself is but the offspring of the conceit of self-sufficiency and the lust of dominion. Nothing which can be named, is more repugnant to the spirit of masonry, nothing to be more carefully guarded against, and this has been always well understood by all skillful masters, and it must in truth be said, that such is the wisdom of the lessons, i.e. of masonic instruction in Lodges, etc.

In similar discussions, containing in almost every word a hidden or open attack on Christianity, the truly Masonic magazines and books of all countries abound. Past Grand Deacon J.C. Parkinson, an illustrious English Mason, frankly avows: “The two systems of Romanism and Freemasonry are not only incompatible, but they are radically opposed to each other” and American Masons say: “We won’t make a man a Freemason, until we know that he isn’t a Catholic.”

Roman Catholic Defense of Christianity
The action of the Church is summed up in the papal pronouncements against Freemasonry since 1738, the most important of which are:

These pontifical utterances from first to last are in complete accord, the latter reiterating the earlier with such developments as were called for by the growth of Freemasonry and other secret societies.

Clement XII accurately indicates the principal reasons why Masonic associations from the Catholic, Christian, moral, political, and social points of view, should be condemned. These reasons are:

* The peculiar, “unsectarian” (in truth, anti-Catholic and anti-Christian) naturalistic character of Freemasonry, by which theoretically and practically it undermines the Catholic and Christian faith, first in its members and through them in the rest of society, creating religious indifferentism and contempt for orthodoxy and ecclesiastical authority.
* The inscrutable secrecy and fallacious ever-changing disguise of the Masonic association and of its “work”, by which “men of this sort break as thieves into the house and like foxes endeavour to root up the vineyard”, “perverting the hearts of the simple”, ruining their spiritual and temporal welfare.
* The oaths of secrecy and of fidelity to Masonry and Masonic work, which cannot be justified in their scope, their object, or their form, and cannot, therefore, induce any obligation. The oaths are condemnable, because the scope and object of Masonry are “wicked” and condemnable, and the candidate in most cases is ignorant of the import or extent of the obligation which he takes upon himself. Moreover the ritualistic and doctrinal “secrets” which are the principal object of the obligation, according to the highest Masonic authorities, are either trifles or no longer exist. [212] In either case the oath is a condemnable abuse. Even the Masonic modes of recognition, which are represented as the principal and only essential “secret” of Masonry, are published in many printed books. Hence the real “secrets” of Masonry, if such there be, could only be political or anti-religious conspiracies like the plots of the Grand Lodges in Latin countries. But such secrets, condemned, at least theoretically, by Anglo-American Masons themselves, would render the oath or obligation only the more immoral and therefore null and void. Thus in every respect the Masonic oaths are not only sacrilegious but also an abuse contrary to public order which requires that solemn oaths and obligations as the principal means to maintain veracity and faithfulness in the State and in human society, should not be vilified or caricatured. In Masonry the oath is further degraded by its form which includes the most atrocious penalties, for the “violation of obligations” which do not even exist; a “violation” which, in truth may be and in many cases is an imperative duty.
* The danger which such societies involve for the security and “tranquility of the State” and for “the spiritual health of souls”, and consequently their incompatibility with civil and canonical law. For even admitting that some Masonic associations pursued for themselves no purposes contrary to religion and to public order, they would be nevertheless contrary to public order, because by their very existence as secret societies based on the Masonic principles, they encourage and promote the foundation of other really dangerous secret societies and render difficult, if not impossible, efficacious action of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities against them.

Of the other papal edicts only some characteristic utterances need be mentioned. Benedict XIV appeals more urgently to Catholic princes and civil powers to obtain their assistance in the struggle against Freemasonry. Pius VII condemns the secret society of the Carbonari which, if not an offshoot, is “certainly an imitation of the Masonic society” and, as such, already comprised in the condemnation issued against it. Leo XII deplores the fact, that the civil powers had not heeded the earlier papal decrees, and in consequence out of the old Masonic societies even more dangerous sects had sprung. Among them the “Universitarian” is mentioned as most pernicious. “It is to be deemed certain”, says the pope, “that these secret societies are linked together by the bond of the same criminal purposes.” Gregory XVI similarly declares that the calamities of the age were due principally to the conspiracy of secret societies, and like Leo XII, deplores the religious indifferentism and the false ideas of tolerance propagated by secret societies. Pius IX characterizes Freemasonry as an insidious, fraudulent and perverse organization injurious both to religion and to society; and condemns anew “this Masonic and other similar societies, which differing only in appearance coalesce constantly and openly or secretly plot against the Church or lawful authority”. Leo XIII (1884) says: “There are various sects, which although differing in name, rite, form, and origin, are nevertheless so united by community of purposes and by similarity of their main principles as to be really one with the Masonic sect, which is a kind of centre, whence they all proceed and whither they all return.” The ultimate purpose of Freemasonry is “the overthrow of the whole religious, political, and social order based on Christian institutions and the establishment of a new state of things according to their own ideas and based in its principles and laws on pure Naturalism.”

In view of these several reasons Catholics since 1738 are, under penalty of excommunication, incurred ipso facto, and reserved to the pope, strictly forbidden to enter or promote in any way Masonic societies. The law now in force pronounces excommunication upon “those who enter Masonic or Carbonarian or other sects of the same kind, which, openly or secretly, plot against the Church or lawful authority and those who in any way favour these sects or do not denounce their leaders and principal members.” Under this head mention must also be made of the “Practical Instruction of the Congregation of the Inquisition, 7 May, 1884 and of the decrees of the Provincial Councils of Baltimore, 1840; New Orleans, 1856; Quebec, 1851, 1868; of the first Council of the English Colonies, 1854; and particularly of the Plenary Councils of Baltimore, 1866 and 1884. These documents refer mainly to the application of the papal decrees according to the peculiar condition of the respective ecclesiastical provinces. The Third Council of Baltimore, n. 254 sq., states the method of ascertaining whether or not a society is to be regarded as comprised in the papal condemnation of Freemasonry. It reserves the final decision thereon to a commission consisting of all the archbishops of the ecclesiastical provinces represented in the council, and, if they cannot reach a unanimous conclusion, refers to the Holy See.

These papal edicts and censures against Freemasonry have often been the occasion of erroneous and unjust charges. The excommunication was interpreted as an “imprecation” that cursed all Freemasons and doomed them to perdition. In truth an excommunication is simply an ecclesiastical penalty, by which members of the Church should be deterred from acts that are criminal according to ecclesiastical law. The pope and the bishops, therefore, as faithful pastors of Christ’s flock, cannot but condemn Freemasonry. They would betray, as Clement XII stated, their most sacred duties, if they did not oppose with all their power the insidious propagation and activity of such societies in Catholic countries or with respect to Catholics in mixed and Protestant countries. Freemasonry systematically promotes religious indifferentism and undermines true, i.e., orthodox Christian and Catholic Faith and life. Freemasonry is essentially Naturalism and hence opposed to all supernaturalism. As to some particular charges of Leo XIII (1884) challenged by Freemasons, e.g., the atheistical character of Freemasonry, it must be remarked, that the pope considers the activity of Masonic and similar societies as a whole, applying to it the term which designates the most of these societies and among the Masonic groups those, which push the so-called “anti-clerical”, in reality irreligious and revolutionary, principles of Freemasonry logically to their ultimate consequences and thus, in truth, are, as it were, the advanced outposts and standard-bearers of the whole immense anti-Catholic and anti-papal army in the world-wide spiritual warfare of our age. In this sense also the pope, in accordance with a fundamental biblical and evangelical view developed by St. Augustine in his “De civitate Dei”, like the Masonic poet Carducci in his “Hymn to Satan”, considers Satan as the supreme spiritual chief of this hostile army. Thus Leo XIII (1884) expressly states:

What we say, must be understood of the Masonic sect in the universal acceptation of the term, as it comprises all kindred and associated societies, but not of their single members. There may be persons amongst these, and not a few, who, although not free from the guilt of having entangled themselves in such associations, yet are neither themselves partners in their criminal acts nor aware of the ultimate object which these associations are endeavouring to attain. Similarly some of the several bodies of the association may perhaps by no means approve of certain extreme conclusions, which they would consistently accept as necessarily following from the general principles common to all, were they not deterred by the vicious character of the conclusions.

“The Masonic federation is to be judged not so much by the acts and things it has accomplished, as by the whole of its principles and purposes.”

May the LORD God bless you in the name of St. Judas Maccabaeus.

Jason Nicholas Korning

SOURCE: Masonry (Freemasonry), by Hermann Gruber, The Catholic Encyclopedia (1910). from New Advent (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09771a.htm). This article was transcribed for New Advent by Bobie Jo M. Bilz. Dedicated to R. Michael Steinmacher, III.

Where does the words Jew and Judaism come from? Many people, including some Jews, would be unable to answer that question. The word Jew is an abbreviated form of the name Judah, who was one of the 12 sons of Jacob and great-grandson of the Patriarch Abraham. Jews and Judaism are traditionally linked to the tribe of Judah, the lion, one of the twelve tribes of Israel whose ancestral lands surrounded the capital of Jerusalem. After the golden age of King David and King Solomon, the united kingdom of Israel collapsed into two separate kingdoms called Judea and Israel. The tribe of Judah stayed true to the religion originally established by Moses, while the ten northern tribes of Israel reverted to paganism and were eventually destroyed and scattered by its enemies. The tribe of Judah, represented by the nation of Judea, managed to survive this onslaught. In time, however, they too were invaded and shipped off to the Babylonian Empire as slaves. Staying true to their religious roots, even in exile, they were finally allowed to resettle Jerusalem and the surrounding area. Most, if not all, Jews of today trace their blood lineage to the tribe of Judah and not to the lost ten tribes of Israel. The direct ancestry of Jews can be described as follows:

Many observers still remain confused by the term Jew. Is it an ethnicity or a religious affiliation? Most scholars would say both. Anyone who follows the religion of Judaism is a Jew, just as any individual born of a Jewish mother is also called a Jew. One could have pure Scandinavian or African heritage and still be a Jew through conversion. Jews can also be Pagan, or even Satanic, as well as uncircumcised as long as their mother was of Jewish blood. In short, the word Jew has two definitions. It is both a religious and ethnic term that depends on how it is utilized.

With that in mind, it is difficult to generalize about what Jewish reality is actually about. Is it a religious or ethnically based outlook? The answer, quite simply, is both. This has been the bane for many Jews throughout the ages, mostly because some Jews have taken it upon themselves to propagate ideas that are antithetical to the religion of Judaism. Several Jews, none of whom were religious, have publicly advocated anti-Christian, and anti-Jewish, policies that have caused Gentile Christians to deceitfully blame all the Jews in retaliation. Such is the paradox, and danger, of the word Jew. A very hurtful joke among Gentiles has been that they are quite glad not to be God’s Chosen People- chosen to be spat upon and despised. For the purposes of simplicity, the words Jew and Jewish shall refer to those who adhere to the religion of Judaism. According to the Holy Bible, Jews are God’s Chosen People and subject to laws that others are not required to obey. These include circumcision, kosher food requirements, along with a host of other rules that have been followed by the descendants of Judah since the time of Moses. In all, there are 613 commandments to the religion of Judaism.

There is more to Jewish reality than just this however. Apparently, Jews are commanded by God to impose, one way or another, the Seven Laws of Noah upon the entire human race. Besides for Christianity, this is the one and only Jewish conspiracy of any real importance and the Roman Catholic Church supports it without hesitation. These seven laws, as dictated by God, are as follows:

I. You will not commit idolatry.
II. You will not murder.
III. You will not steal.
IV. You will not commit sexual perversion.
V. You will not commit blasphemy.
VI. You will not eat the flesh of a living animal.
VII. You will establish courts to enforce these laws.

Some contend that the religion of Judaism, as with Christianity, is a thing of the past and will, in time, fade away to become yet another historical footnote. Others, mainly Protestant Christians, are ecstatic about the massive intermarriage that is taking place between Jews and Gentiles and the slow, but steady conversion rate to Christianity that is also happening among American Jews. Those who have seen the statistics are supremely confident that, outside of Israel, most Jews will be Christian by the end of this century. Are the Jews on the road to extinction? Not exactly.

Right now there are three main denominations of Judaism. They are called Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism. The vast majority of intermarriage and conversion to Christianity is occurring in the Conservative and Reform communities, not in the Orthodox. What is most likely to happen is that Jewish reality, far from disappearing, will experience a revival that will turn many Jews towards the oldest and most authentic form of Judaism called Orthodoxy. This type of Judaism has long viewed both Conservative and Reform Judaism as blasphemy and heresy, just as devout Roman Catholics have often regarded Protestant Christianity in a similar manner. It should be remembered that Jesus was an Orthodox Jew. There was really no other actual form of Judaism at the time.

Many Jews will contend that Orthodoxy descends directly from Moses and his teachings, similar to the way Roman Catholicism comes straight from the actual Apostles and disciples of Rabbi Jesus. It is not so much that Orthodox Judaism deserves to survive is that it will survive, which is how the Church wants it. This isn’t a popularity contest. To both of them, Reform and Conservative Jews were, and are, heretics who are destined to either fall away from actual Judaism or be reconverted to the one true faith of Orthodox Judaism, which in fairness should simply be called Judaism. The ranks of Orthodoxy will grow in number both in Israel and in the United States due to conversion and the large number of children found in Orthodox families. Reform and Conservative Judaism will continue to dwindle away as the years go by.

Jewish reality will, in fact, become smaller and more Orthodox, but there will also emerge a new Jewish-Christian reality never seen before in history except during the days of the early Church. It is an astonishing phenomenon that will quite likely continue well into the next century. This is unlikely to be interrupted by any anti-Semitic backlash as was the case in Weimar Germany and Imperial Spain. The reason, of course, is that this time the Gentiles are peacefully welcoming, rather than violently demanding, Jewish conversion to Christianity. The tremendous amount of intermarriage is also helping to stabilize the situation. Assimilation was possible before, this time it is inevitable. At the same time, Orthodox Jewish reality, like the diamonds they specialize in, won’t be going away anytime soon. As the Bible states: ‘Only a few of you will be left among the nations where the LORD will lead you.’ (Deuteronomy 4:27)

Basic Jewish reality bears an astonishing resemblance to what many would mistakenly call Christian reality. Those who know their history might well contend that for the past two thousand years this reality was often preached, but seldom practiced, except by the Jews themselves. Christian anti-Semitism, a menace that will hopefully go extinct very soon, has kept Christians from acting towards Jews as God has commanded. The commandments are very explicit about how to treat others and hopefully Christians will begin to obey them. This is not to say that all Jews at all times have obeyed them, but the nonviolent, peaceful actions of the vast majority of unarmed Jews throughout the centuries speak for themselves. Christians have been violent bullies towards the Jews for far too long and will hopefully begin to obey what many Jews consider to be the three most important commandments in the Bible. They are as follows:

Individual: Biblical Quote (Source) God: You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:4) Neighbor: You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:18) Stranger: You shall love the stranger as yourself…I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:34)

Jewish reality, so often a source of pain, disappointment, despair and suffering is about to change. It has been changing since 1945. Hitler and the Nazis lost the war and, more importantly, they lost the debate about how to solve the Jewish ‘problem’. The problem was not with the Jews, it was with the Gentiles and their inability to act like their LORD and savior Rabbi Jesus did by forgiving them. As Jesus Himself said while suffering on the cross, ‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ Will Jewish reality survive acceptance and tolerance rather than persecution? Some contend that without the hatred and disdain of the Gentiles, Jews will assimilate rapidly and Judaism will fade away until there are none left to practice it. Others contend that history is simply returning to an age-old reality that the Jews were, and are destined to be, God’s chosen people and ‘a light unto the Gentiles’.

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all peoples on earth to be His people, His treasured possession.

– Deuteronomy 7:6

In the future, as in the past, Jews will return to being a noble, honorable, dignified people rather than the cringing, pathetic stereotypes caused by centuries of Christian hatred and abuse. The return of the Jewish nobleman, respected throughout Gentile society, has just started and will continue indefinitely.

Protestant RealitySome old-fashioned Catholics will cheerfully inform you that Protestants have all been roasting in Hell ever since Martin Luther passed on. Having discovered the truth behind this claim, some of them become more stubborn than a mule and continue to insist they are in Heaven unto this very day. They might also tell you that more than a few Protestants are guaranteed to act exactly like Martin Luther on any given occasion. They act like Nazis whenever they are ‘winning’, and Soviets whenever they are ‘losing’. Sadly, they flat-out refuse to listen to anyone who tries telling them that life is no game and death is most certainly no laughing matter.

Even today there are still a few highly-educated Catholics who will warn you that many Protestants, especially those who are also Freemasons continue to secretly, and sometimes openly, worship Zeus/Jupiter as God the Father and Apollo as the Son, mostly because they would never, ever, actually accept a Jew as their Immortal God or their Heavenly King. Most Catholics don’t find this out until after they die, while those who do are attacked for their beliefs and remain somewhat in danger their whole lives, mainly because of the powerful Protestant Gentile/Freemasonry establishment lobby. The American Protestant ‘powers that be’ also do not want any Jew to ever know that this nation’s Protestant/Freemason Establishment secretly despises them, or that their grandfathers and fathers secretly rooted for Hitler during World War II. Even so, the miraculous invention of the Atomic Bomb by a group of almost exclusively Jewish scientists, decades after having been theoretically discovered by a Jewish physicist named Einstein, ended up causing the demonic Protestant/Freemasonry ruling class to suddenly become quite wary of their unexplained power and continued post-Holocaust success, both in this country and in Israel.

Today, their basic strategy of lies and deception is to keep the Jews too busy working and making money to ever really wonder about who actually controls the American after-life, namely the American world of the dead. In the meantime, the Protestant heretics fully intend on keeping every living Jew and/or Catholic totally clueless about the after-life, so that their own hand-picked proteges, their own 21st century Sons of Freemasonry, can continue to retain exclusive access, power and control over the American spiritual realm.

Seen in perspective, these Catholic ‘conspiracy theories’ about American Protestants should always be taken with a grain of salt, even though they may sometimes come dangerously close to the truth. Accusations against Freemasons and their deluded Protestant masses have diminished in recent years because the Church has finally recognized that what they see as blatantly obvious, historical evidence that Freemasonry is evil, wicked, Pagan and anti-Christian does nothing to convince non-Catholics that Freemasonry should be outlawed and legally prohibited from ever being re-organized. Tragically, 99% of Americans have absolutely no idea that the most successful third party in the history of this country was officially called the anti-Masonic Party. As the name implies, this political party was founded upon a very intense opposition to any and all forms of Freemasonry. Party members included Founding Father and former US President James Quincy Adams. Since that time, the near total social, cultural, and intellectual black-out about publicizing or mentioning the evils of Freemasonry, the Catholic Church of today is also slowly learning to deal with a 500 year old movement that calls itself Protestant Christianity, but is nothing more than international Freemasonry in reality.

Suffice it to say, St. Peter and his international team of Church Angels seem to finally be willing to listen to others, to control their anger, and to try dealing rationally with a heretical, yet very seductive, religious viewpoint that does not seem to be going away anytime soon. The astonishing disappearance of open and public Roman Catholic Church warnings and denunciations of Freemasonry seem to indicate that the devout and righteous forces of St. Peter have finally learned to appear more tolerant, and perhaps even a bit clueless, about the demonically Protestant American world of today. This should be seen as a much-needed improvement in Church strategy, a deliberate attempt to ‘be wise as serpents’ when dealing with their enemy.

Considering the disastrous results of St. Peter’s disastrous campaign against Freemasonry, which consisted of dozens and dozens of official Church documents, written and published by nine different Popes over the course of nearly 225 years, a change in strategy was both effective and essential. In other words, Catholics are finally becoming better at defending and attacking their demonic foe, the Freemasons, without the media or the public even noticing or caring. On the surface of things, the Pope continues to barely ever mention Protestantism, except to compliment of support them. This is a vast improvement from the days when learned Roman Catholics would instantly dismiss Protestant reality with a simple quote from Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.’

As far as they were concerned, Protestant Christianity was, and is, little more than ‘the gates of hell’ in disguise, which were composed of two sexually violent men (pillars) intent on ‘spanking’ any disobedient Chatholic ghost/soul who refused to go upstairs to the the Protestant cesspool in the sky that the non-Catholic Christians still call Heaven. Put simply, Protestants were the builders, the heretics, the enemy. Some contend that this is still the case even today.

Welcome to the jungle, we’ve got fun and games. You can have anything you
want, but you better not take it from me…Take you to your knees, I want to
hear you scream…

– Welcome to the Jungle, by Guns & Roses

Since 1945, this sort of thinking is being replaced by a more ecumenical understanding of Protestantism, one that takes into account a fairly recent phenomenon known as Evangelical Protestantism. To its own dismay, the Church of today is actually quite impressed and just a tad envious of what these Evangelicals have managed to accomplish in the last 50 years. It must be remembered that, since the Reformation, the difference between Catholic and Protestant was something that many Christians were willing to kill and die for. Catholics and Protestants would almost never intermarry and refused to be buried next to one another. Times have changed drastically, especially since the end of World War II, and even more so after Vatican II during the 1960s.

To be honest, the current crisis occurring within the mainline denominations of Protestantism, especially in Europe, is something the Church has secretly desired for a long time. In truth, there remain forces in Roman Catholicism that want Protestant Christianity to be destroyed immediately, some would say by any means possible. They cheer on the current illegal immigration from Latin America knowing full well that it is religious warfare by any other name. They figure that by overwhelming this country through sheer numbers, Roman Catholicism will simply establish itself by default. They envision a situation where the Church rules from the northern reaches of Canada down to the tip of Chile. They rightfully view the United States as the last outpost of a renegade Christianity, backed by Freemasonry, that must be stopped at all costs. They see little difference between a Buddhist and a Protestant, both of them being heretics that need conversion. This may sound a little extreme, but Americans who are interested in the situation, especially Protestants, must remember that Roman Catholicism is found in literally every single nation on this planet. In reality, many Catholics in the United States do not always see themselves as Americans, even though they may actually be American citizens. Many of them do not view this Protestant nation as ‘the most Christian nation in the world.’ Instead, they consider the United States a blasphemous abomination built upon lies and deceptions of Freemasonry with a pornographic culture that comes straight from Sodom and Gomorrah. Scratch an anti-American and many times you will find a Roman Catholic, or their hidden influence, hiding behind the rhetoric.

Aside from all that, Protestant reality is something that must be dealt with one way or another. It is here to stay. In the form of Evangelical Christianity, it is making quite a few inroads into third-world nations and is spreading like wildfire in South America, Asia and Africa. Obviously, the Holy Ghost is with them to some extent. Nothing else explains their phenomenal success. The basics of Evangelical Christianity, as seen by the Church, can be described as follows:

SalvationProtestant: Man is saved through faith in Jesus Christ alone.Catholic: Salvation continues through a personal relationship with Jesus.

ScripturesProtestant: The entire Bible is the literal word of God.Catholic: Except for the Ten Commandments, the entire Bible was written by men, but inspired and edited by God

SacramentsProtestant: The Bible, and not tradition, is the true source of Christianity.Salvation: All Seven Sacraments were established by the 12 Apostles of Jesus Christ

While none of these of these doctrines are that particularly offensive to the Church, the theology that lies behind them is. Some Fundamentalist Evangelicals deny the Christian trinity, which has been a key component of the Church from its very inception. A personal relationship with Jesus is also somewhat of an alien concept to Roman Catholics who believe that Jesus ascended into Heaven almost 2,000 years ago and has not yet returned. The Church considers the Bible to be very difficult to understand for many readers and has established traditions that are based upon the Biblical interpretations of the early Church fathers, who read the Gospels in its original and unadulterated form. The authorship of the Bible is attributed to Moses, the prophets and the disciples of Jesus, not God Himself. These differences in beliefs between Roman Catholics and Evangelical Protestants can be summed up in the following manner:

God of ChristianityEvangelical Protestantism: Jesus Christ is LORD.Roman Catholicism: The LORD God of Israel consists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Good WorksEvangelical Protestantism: Man is saved by faith alone.Roman Catholicism: Good works can, does, and will contribute to salvation.

Holy BibleEvangelical Protestantism: Written by God.Roman Catholicism: Written by various men guided by God.

At its worst, the Protestant mind is filled with superstitions, misconceptions, and self-righteousness. At its best, it is as sharp and keen as the most prominent, and insightful of the lethargic and media-shy, Roman Catholic theologians. One wonders why the best of them won’t simply convert to the faith of their forefathers and not to the plethora of denominations that calls itself Protestant Christianity. Too many Protestants are fixated on the Book of Revelation and its apocalyptic predictions. Many will state publicly that they truly believe they are living in the end times where an all-powerful New World Order is about to stamp the number 666 on everyone’s right hand and forehead. Get real. They also believe that the UPC bar code is possibly a precursor to this totalitarian system of the Beast.

Evangelical Protestants need to wake up and see how foolish they appear to unbelievers by scaring themselves and others into thinking the end of the world is near. The United States is years, perhaps centuries, away from any real danger posed by a godless, technological dictatorship ruled by the devil himself. There are far too many God-fearing Christians, and Jews, who own guns and are either serving in the military now, or have served, that simply would not obey any orders that contradicted their deeply held religious faith. Too many people would fight back and the forces of Satan would lose in a big way. There is nothing to be truly scared of in today’s world except for a possible nuclear attack by Islamic terrorists.

Rabbi Jesus is not coming to earth anytime soon. One of the primary reasons why is that He simply does not need to do so after having thoroughly discredited the diabolical, yet seemingly Judeo-Christian, political alternative to Christianity commonly known as International Socialism, or Communism. What makes the Protestants look even more foolish is their utter lack of understanding that perhaps Jesus Christ is too busy repairing the damage that has been done to the Eastern Orthodox Christian Kingdom of Heaven after Satan and his forces took over in 1918. Far too many American Protestants still do not realize that Russia was Christian for 1,000 years before becoming the Soviet bad guy during the Cold War. One must remember that it has only been since 1991, that the opposing Communist nuclear superpower known as the Soviet Union finally collapsed, thus proving to the entire world that Communism was an evil lie of the Devil. Sincere Christian Protestants who still want to meet Jesus in person as soon as they can, will simply have to wait until they die to finally meet Him in His fierce, hot, and most terrible Divine glory that will probably end up terrifying most of them anyway.

In the meantime, Protestants should give the one, true Church a chance when deciding whether or not to be members of the Free Methodist as opposed to the United Methodist Church. Protestants should serious consider visiting their local Roman Catholic Parish before making that critical choice between the Southern Baptist, rather than the First Baptist, or even the Anabaptist congregations to name just a few. To be sure, there remain certain Catholic doctrines that Protestants love to regurgitate whenever discussing why they are not Roman Catholic. Some of these theological beliefs that Protestants still willingly deny and the actual Scriptures that back them up are as follows:

The TrinityProtestant Denial: God is not composed of three different entities. The sign of the cross is unnecessary ritual.Actual Gospels: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. (Matthew 28:19)

Papal InfallibilityProtestant Denial: The Pope is not infallible and is just another man like St. Peter was in the beginning.Actual Gospels: You are Peter…I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 16:19)

Communion of SaintsProtestant Denial: The tradition of the Saints has no Biblical basis. There is no proof they are in Heaven as the Church claims they are.Actual Gospels: Many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised…and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:52)

Entire volumes could be written about why, where, and how the Protestants are wrong about Christianity. It is ironic that, on the Left, the mainline Protestant denominations are fast becoming pagan outlets of a cheap New Age spirituality with openly gay pastors and female witch reverends who lead the Sunday services and perhaps lecture them about the evils of homophobia. While, on the Right, the Evangelical Protestants are becoming hard-core followers of the laws of the Bible as they are written, in other words, very real 21st century ‘Judaizers’. Some cultural critics would complain that their modern, mega-Church services are still more like Hollywood game shows than true expressions of faith. It is true that, in the past, Evangelicals were too quick to blame the Jews, the feminists, and the homosexuals for this current crisis of faith rather than their fellow Protestants who are not following the laws of the Bible at all. In the end, it’s better to denounce all unbelievers equally than to single out historically oppressed minorities who do have reason to be agitated.

Roman Catholicism, which has literally seen it all throughout history, truly wants these modern born-again Christians to succeed, but not as Protestants. They are much like 24-karat gold that is going unclaimed and unredeemed. Their souls are not necessarily the property of Luther, Calvin or Wesley. The faith of Jesus Christ is not a shopping mall with many different items to choose from. It was founded by Saint Peter in Rome and continues to this very day under the name of the Roman Catholic Church. It is to be hoped, and prayed for, that the protests among the heretic Christians will finally die down and they will willingly and proudly return to the faith of their fathers.

The Catholic Reality
Probably the most important aspect of Catholic reality, the one that Protestants hysterically deny, is that the Roman Catholic Church was, and still is, the original and most authentic form of Christianity. It is Christianity. This comes from the Gospels themselves thus making Protestants not only wrong by tradition, but wrong by the very Word of God. Rabbi Jesus tells Peter that he is destined to found a Church that will eventually take over the whole world and that he, and he alone, not Paul, is to be known as the founder and leader of all Christianity.

I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earthshall be loosed in heaven.

– Matthew 16:18-20

Nothing in the Gospels, absolutely nothing, predicts, foresees, or approves of such a thing known as Protestant Christianity. For Catholics, they are still heretics who must be reconverted to the one, true faith. Catholic reality is the dominant reality of the Western world. No other reality, except perhaps for Islamic reality, has as many adherents and fellow worshippers. Jewish reality, with less than 20 million, is only 2% of Roman Catholicism’s one billion people. Not to belittle it, but its numbers hardly signify as a competitor faith. There are more Roman Catholic Churches in more countries than any other Church or international organization ever known. For this reason, the Church is the most multiracial institution in the history of the world. The foundation of Roman Catholicism consists of the Ten Commandments, the LORD’s Prayer, and the Apostle’s (Nicene) Creed. To begin with, the Ten Commandments, as understood by the Church, are as follows:

I. I am the LORD your God. You will have no other gods but me. II. You will not use the name of the LORD in vain. III. You will honor the Sabbath day. IV. You will honor your father and mother. V. You will not kill. VI. You will not commit adultery VII. You will not steal. VIII. You will not lie. IX. You will not envy your neighbor’s wife. X. You will not envy your neighbor’s property.

The LORD’s prayer and the Apostle’s Creed also play a large part in the theology of the Church. The LORD’s prayer is considered to be the prayer most suited in celebrating the message of Rabbi Jesus and has, in time, become the most fundamental Christian prayer of them all. Indeed, it is the prayer Jesus recites in the Gospels when asked for an example on how to pray to God. The Apostle’s Creed, similar to the much longer Nicene Creed, dates back to around the 3rd century A.D. and has been the basic set of beliefs for all Roman Catholics since that time. Both the Creed and the LORD’s prayer are listed as follows:

The LORD’s PrayerOur Father, Who is in heaven,Holy is your name.Your kingdom come,Your will be done,On earth as it is In Heaven.Give us this dayOur daily breadAnd forgive us our sins, As we forgive those Who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation And deliver us from evil.

The Apostle’s CreedI believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Roman Catholicism also includes the Seven Sacraments, rituals used since the days of the early Church fathers. Each of them is considered holy and sacred aspects of the faith, which are permanent and not subject to change over time. Roman Catholics are taught to avoid the Seven Deadly Sins that may lead to damnation and to act according to the Seven Virtues that are necessary for salvation. These three parts of the faith, 777, can be listed as follows:

The elements of the Church, which include the Ten Commandments (Law), the LORD’s prayer (Prayer), the Apostle’s Creed (Doctrine), the Seven Sacraments (Ritual), Deadly Sins (Evil), and Virtues (Good), provide the basic structure of Roman Catholicism today and in the future. Calls for changing any of them would be construed as blasphemy and heresy, not because they are hopelessly outdated, but because they don’t need to be changed. All of them are based upon Scriptures and are not simply ‘Roman’ traditions that are alien to the true Christian faith as some Protestants would have you believe.

Contemporary observers of the Church, some of whom remain unbelievably deluded and implacably hostile towards this institution, actually believe it is possible, or likely, that the Church will eventually change its position on fundamental issues such as abortion, euthanasia, sexual perversion, and female priests. They mistakenly believe that they have all the answers to these so-called problems and that their vision of the future, instead of the Church’s, will prevail. Given the fact that these critics have only been around since the 1960s and are going to die soon makes the Church highly confident that Catholic reality will triumph over any other alternative reality.

Today’s New Age values of tolerance for sexual degeneration and intolerance for female virginity does not scare or frighten the Church which is nearly 2,000 years old. The reason why is that the Church knows, for a fact, that true believers in God and Christianity will always out-reproduce nonbelievers. When it comes down to it, Christians will always outbreed the pagans, the agnostics, and the atheists. The future, as well as the past and the present, is Roman Catholic. Those who disagree should remember that, no matter what they say or what they do, they will always be outnumbered. In the end, Roman Catholic reality has already won.

The Maccabee Laws

Ten Commandments
I. I am the LORD your God. You will have no other gods but Me.
II. You will not use the name of the LORD in vain.
III. You will honor the Sabbath day.
IV. You will honor your father and mother.
V. You will not kill.
VI. You will not commit adultery
VII. You will not steal.
VIII. You will not lie.
IX. You will not envy your neighbor’s wife.
X. You will not envy your neighbor’s property.